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The Montana Veteran's Administration Health Care System is looking for a new, larger location for the community-based outpatient clinic in Great Falls to increase space for services such as primary care, behavioral health and telehealth, officials said.

The opening date has not been determined, pending finding a new location. The current facility is at 1417 9th St. S. Suite 300.

Great Falls was not the only project the VA announced as officials said they would relocate an outpatient clinic in Missoula to a larger facility. That project also has a tentative start date, pending finding a new location.

Dr. Kathy Berger, director of Montana VA Health Care System, in October announced plans to expand the main hospital facility at Fort Harrison in Helena, with a new three-story, 80,000-square foot building for acute inpatient care and associated functions.

The tentative start date is spring 2019.

Once the new building is finished, the existing medical center complex will be retrofitted and large portions renovated undergo a seismic retrofit, officials said Friday.

It will consolidate mental health, substance abuse and homeless services, which are now campuswide.

Officials said Monday they were still putting costs together for the projects. Construction and building projects are funded through congressional appropriations designated for this purpose, said Kirby Ostler, assistant director for Montana VA.

The money will not come from funds set aside for veteran health care.

After the new building is built, the VA will renovate 8,000 square-feet for patient and staff education, which will provide space for group rooms, offices and conference space with teleconference ability.

That project will start in spring 2020, VA officials said.

At one time, VA officials said there are plans to remodel some of the vacant brick buildings on the Fort Harrison campus into housing for homeless veterans.

Berger said in October the department had 35,540 patients in 2016, has total revenues of $169,895,701 in Fiscal Year 2017 and expenditures of $175 million.

Montana, which has about 98,000 veterans among its population of nearly 1 million, has one of the largest per capita veteran populations. It along with Alaska and Maine has about 10 percent of its population as veterans, according to an analysis of VA and Census Bureau data by the Washington Post.